An honor guard from the
South Carolina Highway
Patrol removes the
Confederate battle flag
from the Capitol grounds
on July 10, 2015, in
Columbia, SC. Photo by
John Basemore/Associated
Press.

July 10, 2015, could become an integral moment in
how that young girl understands the political world and
her ability to play a role in it. From her perspective, at that
moment, a group of people fought for change through our
political system and won.

Sinclair-Chapman studies how previously marginalized
groups gain access and influence in the American political
system. She says events over the last year, including
accusations of police brutality, the murder of nine people
at a historic black church, and the battle over Confederate
symbols, could be the types of incidents that spur people
to more action and bring about real change—similar to
the series of events during the Civil Rights Movement or
the years of protests that helped bring an end to the
Vietnam War.

In an award-winning book, Countervailing Forces inAfrican-American Civic Activism, 1973–1994, Sinclair-Chapman and her coauthors explain the effect of nationalpolitical, social, and economic trends on black politicalparticipation. Political events that capture the attentionof the nation can lead to political socialization “becausepeople see something outrageous and unacceptable andare moved to do something about it,” Sinclair-Chapmansays. “For people who become politically active in theaftermath of Baltimore [where protests followed the deathof Freddie Gray in police custody] or the Confederate flagcontroversy in South Carolina, if they can communicatewith people about a topic they care about, you may see morepeople getting involved—we may see more people voting orrunning for office.”Conversations have certainly started in the media andon the streets of many cities where angry citizens formedboth peaceful and violent protests over the last year. “Theentire nation has been forced to pay some attention tothis,” Sinclair-Chapman says. “It has become a nationalconversation. The president has addressed it. Statelegislatures have had to address it. And police departmentshave addressed it.”But it’s also entirely possible that black citizens willnot be inspired to take further action. While seeing a newvideo depicting police unjustifiably shooting citizens mightget conversations started and move people to the streets, itcould also sour many black citizens on participating in asystem they see as broken beyond repair or simply unableto include them as equal players in American citizenship.Change may occur too slowly—or not at all—and convinceprotesters that the system is not worth their time or energy.

It is, for many Purdue faculty members, an interesting
time to observe and study how marginalized groups engage
or disengage in American politics.

Pushback

Cornelius Bynum, associate professor of history and
African American studies, looks at how race and class have
affected African Americans’ pursuit of full citizenship in
the twentieth century. One thing he has repeatedly seen in
U.S. history is that when black citizens start fighting for
something, someone is always ready to fight back.

“You might see a spike in African American voterparticipation, but it’s equally likely that you’ll see a spikein actions that aim to suppress African American politicalparticipation,” Bynum says, citing racial intimidation, polltaxes, literacy tests, and a grandfather clause in the JimCrow South allowing whites who couldn’t pass similar teststo vote anyway as examples. “From the 1850s to the 1950sto today, the fight over civil rights has continued.”“These suppressive things may not go away. Theymay even intensify as minority political participationincreases,” Bynum adds.

As one example, Bynum and others point to political
gerrymandering, which in many places helps keep
politicians of a particular party or race in office. Instead of
voters selecting their leaders, leaders select their voters.

And more overtly, blacks and other minority groups
point at voter identification laws, which require that voters
present a state-issued ID, such as a driver’s license, in order
to cast a vote. Studies, including several published following
a 2009 symposium on voter ID laws, show that one effect
of those laws is that potential voters, especially racial and
ethnic minorities, the poor, and the elderly, are discouraged
from voting booths because they find it difficult to obtain
the necessary documentation to secure the required ID.

“In some places, we’re making it more difficult to vote,”
Sinclair-Chapman says. “Any time we act to restrict access
to voting, like with voter ID laws or restricting the amount
of time when people can vote, we’re making the process
harder instead of easier. If you can keep those people from
voting, you reshape the electorate.”